Costa Eu – Rica!

We waffled about the location. We thought about going to the islands, maybe St. Lucia or Key West or Dominica, but the Caribbean is over-developed and expensive. California came into the discussion, perhaps stay in San Francisco for a while then rent a car to see the Yosemite or Redwoods, but April didn’t seem an ideal time to be traipsing around there.

My fiance, Alison, and I finally made last night a commitment for our honeymoon: Venture to the iconic eco-adventure destination of Costa Rica. For this, credit goes to Alison who when I first suggested Costa Rica remained a little unsure. Ali for our honeymoon wanted beaches, massages, pampering, not adventure travel like whitewater rafting or volcano hiking, but after a dayhike in Pennsylvania’s Ricketts Glen State Park, something changed. Ricketts Glen is home to a pair of gorges, down which tumbles nearly two dozen photogenic cascades, and Ali must have found some inspiration during our 8-mile hike that day. Shortly after, she declared a newfound enthusiasm for Costa Rica and was ready to try it all: sea kayaking, waterfall rappelling, rafting, zip line tours, everything.

You can imagine how my heart took that.

Last night we booked our plane tickets through American Airlines, and this brings me to an important tip. Those Web sites like Travelocity may be good for gaining a general idea about competing airline rates, but when it comes to actually purchasing plane tickets, go directly through the airliners. They usually have better deals those Travelocity sites don’t have, and if you go through a travel Web site, you’re paying extra for the use of the site. Go directly to the source, instead, and that goes for hotels and car rentals, too.

Here’s a sorta cheesy tourist video, but it helps deliver the point of why we’re going – abundant and exceptional natural beauty: